Blockchain for Food Traceability

The Importance of Blockchain for Food Traceability and Quality Using the Vottun Project

People are generally concerned over the quality of food that goes into their mouths. What is written on the pack of a food item may not be what the food contains, other times, the quality of the food is subpar and produced and shipped under unhealthy conditions. But things are changing as some food manufacturers are paying more attention to the quality of food they provide; wholesalers are mindful of the food items that grace their shelves and would eventually get to the retailers. Many of them are looking at adopting the blockchain technology to help verify the quality of their food product, make them transparent, and give the retailer/consumer confidence in their food products.

Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that stores and shares information across a network of users. It is a global emerging platform for digital assets. The unique thing about the blockchain technology is that it need not involve intermediaries to make the process faster and reduces fraud. The technology allows users to see all transactions simultaneously and in real time. Because there is no single point of failure, hacking becomes extremely difficult and pretty much impossible. The adoption of the blockchain technology in the food value chain can help solve the issue of traceability, food waste reduction, and price discovery.

The Vottun Protocol

The Vottun Project is a decentralized blockchain ecosystem that runs on any blockchain, pulic or private. Our first product for food traceability runs the Ethereum blockchain and provides a platform for easily certifying products through an entire supply chain. These certificates cannot be forged, as it is leverages on the power of the immutable distributed ledger that runs on smart contracts. Food producers can issue certificates at every step of a supply chain and customers and partners can verify the authenticity of the certificate.

The Use of the Vottun Protocol for Food Traceability

The consumer trust for food products is really very low, as many of them believe and have tasted food that were substandard. Food security, which is sometimes low especially in developing countries, is very important. Many countries have strict food traceability regulations and abide by them, while some other countries do not have strict regulations in place. Food contamination occurs at a very alarming rate and consumers are generally unsafe.

Food Fraud, according to the Food Safety Net Services (FSNC) is the act of purposely altering, mislabeling, misrepresenting, substituting or tampering with any food product at any point along the farm-to-table food supply chain. This practice has become very rampant and consumers are left at the mercy of farmers, wholesalers, and retailers.

The Vottun protocol via blockchain technology, however, can make a difference as it gives the consumers the assurance that the food has been scrutinized and is of high quality. The Vottun protocol issues certificates at each step of the food supply chain that shows that a food product has undergone the necessary scrutiny at each step of the process and is fit for consumption.

As a practical example, the food that comes from the farm, shipped by freight to warehouses that in turn is distributed to retailers can be checked for its quality and safety on the blockchain. When these food items are processed at each step of the supply chain, unique certificates are created and linked to that product. This certifies each step of the process as valid by the partners in the network. The certificates are timestamped and stored on the Ethereum network by Vottun and can be retrieved and verified by the product QR code or barcode. Even when foods are placed on the shelves, consumers can easily check if the food items they are buying is fit for consumption by checking if these certificates are authentic or not. The certificates stored in the blockchain are fraud-free.

Benefits of Using Vottun for Food Traceability

Vottun makes verification of certificates very quick and easy as institutions, businesses, and agencies can certify and publish certificates on the blockchain. With the Vottun, food operators will not have to be burdened with fake certificates and consumers are sure that certificates are not forged in any way. Some of the benefits include:

Permanent Storage of Certificates

Digital certificates are stored on the Ethereum network, which cannot be tampered with as it has robust security features. Vottun delivers 100 percent authentication of certificates on the blockchain.

Compliance with Privacy Laws

With the privacy scandals rocking social media platforms, Vottun is designed in accordance with privacy laws and it is GDPR compliant.

Premium User Experience

The Vottun platform is aesthetic, easy to use and highly functional. Vottun provides Blockchain certificate SaaS solutions, which makes is suitable for multiple use cases. Businesses, organizations, institutions, food supply chain, do not have to worry about designing their digital certificates because the Vottun DApp has a sleek design and premium programming that delivers superb user experience.